Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

Sept 28 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1930 GMT on Thursday:

** Japan’s Toshiba Corp said it had signed an $18 billion deal to sell its chip unit to a consortium led by Bain Capital LP, overcoming a key - albeit not its last - hurdle as it scrambles for funds to stave off a potential delisting.

** Seagate Technology PLC said it would contribute up to $1.25 billion towards the purchase of Toshiba’s chip unit by the consortium.

** The U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday to confirm Makan Delrahim to head the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, which will decide the fate of deals like AT&T Inc’s proposed purchase of Time Warner Inc and the merger of Bayer AG and Monsanto Co.

** Delphi Automotive Plc Chief Executive Kevin Clark said on Wednesday the company’s two post split-up parts, to be called Aptiv and Delphi Technologies, can thrive on their own and that there was no strategy to seek buyers.

** Private equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Apollo Global Management LLC have teamed up to bid for the business of bankrupt U.S. nuclear power plant services firm Westinghouse Electric Co, people familiar with the matter said.

** Australia’s Beach Energy has agreed to buy gas assets from Origin Energy Ltd for $1.25 billion in a deal that will more than double the oil and gas producer’s output and step up its exposure to a tight energy market in eastern Australia.

** Toyota Motor Corp has established a new venture to develop electric vehicle technology with partner Mazda Motor Corp, seeking to catch up with rivals in an increasingly frenetic race to produce more battery-powered cars.

** French software company Dassault Systemes has agreed to buy U.S. peer Exa Corp in a deal valued at about $400 million, which Dassault said would boost its range of products for clients.

** HEMA, one of the Netherlands’ largest retail chains, said it was exploring strategic options, including a possible sale.

** German carmaker Daimler said it had agreed to fully acquire ride-sharing company Flinc.

** Polish trading company Eurocash may have to wait at least six months to get a green light to buy the retail chain Mila for 350 million zlotys ($95.5 million), Marek Niechcial, president of Poland’s anti-monopoly office UOKiK, told Reuters.

** Generali is open to selling its 40 billion euro ($47 billion) German life insurance portfolio to free up capital to accelerate growth in its second-biggest market, the company said.

** U.S. medical equipment supplier Becton Dickinson and Co has offered concessions to address EU antitrust concerns over its $24 billion bid for U.S. peer Bard, the European Commission said.

** Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) has hired BNP Paribas to advise it on the sale of its $7.2 billion Ras Al Khair desalination plant, a source close to the matter said.

** U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group is looking to sell its 30 percent stake in Turkish lingerie and swimwear retailer Penti and has mandated Goldman Sachs to advise on the deal, three people familiar with the matter said.

** United Parcel Service Inc and Chinese express delivery company SF Holding said they have received approval from Chinese regulators for an international package delivery services joint venture.

** Private equity firm The Carlyle Group is exploring a sale of portfolio company Array Marketing Group, a Canadian provider of retail merchandising displays, that could value it as much as $1 billion, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

** Swedish enterprise software maker IFS, owned by private equity firm EQT, said it had struck a deal to buy U.S. software company WorkWave in its biggest-ever acquisition.

** Britain’s Monarch Airlines, grappling with competition from low-cost rivals, said it was talking to potential partners after a report that parts of its short-haul network would be sold.

** South Africa’s Netcare said it would buy the rest of the shares it does not already own in Britain’s BMI Healthcare from private equity firm Apax and other investors in an all-share deal worth more than $125 million.

** Qatar Airways said it had acquired a 49 percent stake in AQA Holding, the new parent company of Italy’s Meridiana, adding to its growing portfolio of investments in foreign airlines.

** Abbott Laboratories has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy Alere Inc on condition that it sell two point-of-care medical testing businesses, the Federal Trade Commission said.

** The Swedish furniture giant has bought the odd-job app. Though the price is undisclosed, it’s a rare tech acquisition that makes sense given how much of TaskRabbit’s business must be assembling Billy bookcases and such.